Surprising turn - a turn for the better? Or into madness ... (Draco Ff)

Chapter 41 ~ Half the truth is mostly a whole lie...

Victoria's Pov.

It was over....
I took everything in slow motion.
Dumbledore's lifeless body fell over the parapet and a few moments later landed with a thump on the grass beneath the Astronomy Tower.
I tightened my grip on my wand and closed my eyes for a moment.
Dumbledore was now finally dead.
The mighty magician was no longer with us.
He died because he stood in the Dark Lord's way and for no other reason.
His death was unnecessary and could have been prevented.
As my mother's hysterical, insane laughter broke the silence, I opened my eyes again, peered over the railing and scanned the clear night.
My mother ran towards the railing, leaned dangerously far over it and uttered "Morsmordre." while waving her wand high in the air.
The Dark Mark appeared in the sky, giving the dark, clear night an eerie atmosphere.
The previously cloudless sky immediately turned dark and clouds began to gather.
I broke my rigidity and saw Snape start frantically running down the spiral staircase.
The Carrows, Fenir Greyback and my mother followed him.
As I turned to face Draco, I realized how badly his body was shaking.
He still had his wand gripped tightly and kept it pointed at the floor.
"Draco, come on!  We have to get out of here!” I said restlessly and waited for a reaction from him.
When none came, I grabbed his shoulders and shook him until he snapped out of his trance and stared at me in fear.
"Come on!" I rushed him, grabbing his hand as I dragged him down the stairs.
Me and Draco quickly caught up with the other Death Eaters and followed.
We walked through the hall and my mother didn't miss this chance and walked across the Ravenclaw table laughing hysterically.
She kicked the dishes off the long table so that they shattered with a loud clatter on the stone floor and lay there in thousands of pieces.
Meanwhile, she let a strong current of air sweep through the hall, breaking the windows.
I caught up with Draco, passing the Carrows and now running directly behind Snape.
His cloak dragged onto the ground behind him, making his appearance even more frightening.
He stepped briskly through the large oaken door.
The Auror blocking our way out allowed himself to be incapacitated with a well applied "Petrificus Totalus" and slumped to the ground, lying motionless on Jenen.
As we passed through the great oaken gate and the cool wind caressed my body, my mother ran towards the game warden's hut and laughed utterly insanely into the night.
"Hagrid, are you at home?" she asked him in a disguised voice, but was interrupted by Potter, who came running towards us.
I turned in his direction in surprise and couldn't see the disgust and hatred on his face.
He kept shouting, "Snape, he trusted you!" as he lumbered toward the former Potions professor.
My mother, meanwhile, set Hagrid's hut on fire, jumping up and down like a delighted child with her arms in the air.
Recognizing Potter, she turned away from the blazing hut and gave her full attention to the chosen one.
She stunned him from his feet with a stunning spell, but was stopped by a fierce looking Severus Snape.
"Don't, Bellatrix!  It belongs to the dark lord.” With these words, my mother lowered her wand and ran with hopping steps in the direction of the forbidden forest.
I gave Potter another disapproving look before turning to face young Malfoy, who appeared to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
His shoulders were slumped and a sickly looking pallor had spread across his face.
He looked up and looked at me with his pale eyes.
I wanted to grab his hand, but he wouldn't let me and slapped it away.
"Leave me alone.  I don't know what else I can believe from you and what not.", the ice prince said seriously and turned his back on me before he, like my mother before, walked towards the forbidden forest.
I stopped dead in my tracks and clenched my right hand, which I had intended to use to grab Draco's, into a fist and exhaled overwhelmed.
He was referring to Greyback's words, which he had spoken a few minutes earlier on the observation deck of the Astronomy Tower.
He felt lied to and I couldn't even blame him after I promised him we wouldn't keep secrets from each other anymore.
He kept his promise and told me everything.
He trusted me with everything.
I was a bad person...
I became more and more aware of this over time.
First all the murders I committed and now the lies I told the only person I trusted.
I didn't want him to know what I'm responsible for.
He wasn't to know how much blood was on my hands, or how many times the Killing Curse left my lips.
I couldn't tell him the number of dead people.
I couldn't count them on two hands for a long time.  But I couldn't get the exact number out of my head.
I was a murderer and I couldn't undo that.
Nor could I ask anyone to accept this, or even more so to understand it.
It had changed me.
And would never be the way I used to be.
A part of me is gone and would never come back.
"Come on, come on Victoria!" I heard the cool voice of Severus Snape ring out next to me and was thus catapulted back into reality.
I shook off all imaginable thoughts and followed the former potions professor into the forbidden forest.
When we crossed the Apparation limit, I immediately Apparated into Malfoy Manor.
The place where I would stay until the all-important battle...